OPEN ARCHIVE

An Anthropological Analysis of Book Fairs

This working paper examines the role of international book fairs in the global
publishing industry, and in particular their relation to the publishing cycle,
chain and field. It outlines some relevant historical features, as well as main
functions, of fairs, before describing in detail the daily activities of an
independent academic publisher at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Analysis of the
book fair takes place at two levels. The first focuses on the importance of
visibility in a fair’s timing and location, as well as in the location and size of
participants’ stands, inclusion in the fair catalogue, business deals, and social
gatherings. The second examines the book fair as a tournament of values, or
ritual tournament, in terms of its framing, membership and currency. The
argument presented is that the currency of copyright is not dissimilar to a form
of gift exchange and that, as a result, a book is both commodity and gift. It is in
the shadow of the gift that the commodity of the book is produced, distributed,
sold and read.